Bae Doona, Song Kangho, Gang Dongwon and More Appear in Latest from Japanese Auteur

Broker (working title), the highly anticipated Korean feature debut of acclaimed filmmaker Koreeda Hirokazu, completed production on June 22. The project has drawn considerable attention for its cast of Korean stars, including Bae Doona, who previously appeared in Koreeda’s Air Doll, Song Kangho, Gang Dongwon and IU (aka Lee Jieun).

The story focuses on various characters who are affected by a ‘baby box’, the name given to special anonymous drop-off points for newborn babies from parents unable to care for them. The film went into production on April 14 and took just over two months to complete.

Parasite (2019) star Song, who is going to Cannes this summer with Emergency Declaration and as a member of the main competition jury, has worked with several times before, on Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), The Host (2006), and The Drug King (2018). He has also worked with Gang on Secret Reunion (2010).

Already a household name for her singing career, IU has also made a name for herself on the small screen and is steadily beginning to appear in films such as Kim Jongkwan’s Shades of the Heart (2019). She previously co-starred with Bae in the ‘Love Set’ segment of the Netflix series Persona.

Koreeda won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival with Shoplifters in 2018. His other acclaimed films include Nobody Knows, Still Walking, and Like Father, Like Son.

The cinematography on the project was handled by the celebrated Hong Kyeongpyo, known for lensing Bong Joonho’s Parasite (2019) and Snowpiercer (2013), as well as Na Hongjin’s The Wailing (2016) and Lee Changdong’s Burning (2018).

Broker is produced by ZIP CINEMA (The Priests, 2015) and will be distributed by CJ Entertainment, the studio responsible for Parasite.